White Night 2017

A couple of years ago I went to White Night for the first time and really loved it but when I went last year it wasn't such a great experience. Now I could say that was because the displays weren't that great, but I think that the reality is that I was in the middle of a gall bladder attack and so it wouldn't have mattered how spectacular the displays were.

This year, though, was back to an amazing experience. We changed our strategy this year. Instead of going in just after dark, we didn't actually go in until around 11.30pm. I have to say I'm a bit old for this going out at 11.30 at night. And that's despite the fact that I had a nana nap before we went into the city. At least I'm still calling it a nana nap, but I am pretty sure that the fact that I laid down in bed with every intention of going to sleep and slept for a good 2 hours means that it was more a sleep than a nap. Not sure where that line is technically. I then didn't get home until 4.30. That would have been fine except I was going out the next morning too! More about that later maybe.

Last year they didn't have any projections on the facade of Flinders Street train station or on the buildings near the Forum so I was very glad to see that they were back this year. On the train station there was a projection with an indigenous theme talking about the fact that there are many nations within indigenous culture.

The next buildings we saw were on a stretch near the Forum building, one of my favourite building facades in the city. These buildings have a fairy tale theme which reminded me in many ways of the Fables series by Bill Willingham.

The Exhibition building is always a highlight and this year was no exception, although a little bit surprisingly, it wasn't may favourite thing this year. More on that at the end. The building really lends itself to projections. It is a beautiful building itself at the best of times, but when done well, it really is a spectacular canvas on which to paint a picture with light and sound.

One of my favourite places in Melbourne is the Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria. Normally it is a place where it is quiet, with stately green lamps filling the desk spaces but come White Night it is transformed into a canvas. This year we found ourselves under the waters of Port Philip Bay in the Sea Dragons Lair.

My highlight this year though was definitely the Pyrophone Juggernaut. We originally arrived just as a show ended so we had to wait over an hour for the next show, but it was totally worth the wait.

The juggernaut is a fire organ, where the percussionists use gas and flames to play organ pipes. That is such a meagre explanation for the experience - amazing performances of percussion on unusual instruments, drama and spectacle. Amazing!

Not everything was a hit. There were a couple of things that we saw that I was underwhelmed by and then reading through some of the news I realised that there was lots of good stuff that we just didn't see. I'm not sure that I have quite figured out how to see everything in any one night. We do tend to go to the Exhibition building and the Library. May need to be brave and venture into new parts of the city. Next year, which I am already looking forward to!

Now to work on the definition of nana nap vs sleep.